The present invention relates generally to fishing boats with livewell tanks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for draining livewell tanks. The present invention is particularly relevant for tournament fishing applications where for example the contents of livewell tanks are desirably drained into a bag rather than onto the ground.
In fishing applications it is generally desirable to keep the fish that have been caught alive for the duration of the time that an individual wishes to remain fishing. For the fisherman who intends to eat his or her catch, the longer the fish remains alive the better the fish is likely to taste. For the sport fisherman, keeping the fish alive is even more important, as it is generally a requirement to collect any prizes or awards in a tournament situation that the fish are alive when weighed at the end of the tournament and subsequently releasable.
When fishing from a boat in a tournament situation it is important to have a degree of mobility and therefore it is desirable to provide a tank within the interior of the boat, or “livewell” which is suitable for storing the fish alive for the duration of the time spent fishing. A livewell as is typically known in the art includes an intake system to pump water into the tank from the adjacent body of water and an overflow drain which discharges water from the tank as it flows over a threshold level. A drainage system is further effective to empty the livewell of all water contained therein when the livewell is no longer required.
The livewell may further include systems for aerating the water during movement by the fishing boat, such that a sufficient amount of oxygen remains in the water to keep the fish alive. Chemicals are frequently added such as pH treatments or tranquilizers which medicate the fluid in the livewell and further preserve the ability of the fish to survive the livewell environment for an extended period of time.
In various livewell drainage systems as presently known in the art, the drainage system discharges water from the livewell through a hose coupled to a pump including at least a two-way valve to direct the water flow out of an aperture in the hull and above the waterline of the boat. In this way the livewell may be drained of water regardless of whether the boat is itself currently in or out of the water.
However, for a tournament fisherman in particular it is generally desirable to preserve some of the water from the livewell rather than draining it entirely onto the ground or into the body of outside water. This is because the tournament fisherman needs to transport the fish that have been caught to a remote area for weighing, and therefore needs the water from the livewell to be maintained in a portable device such as a bag or basket within which the fish may be safely carried to and from the weighing area without dying. As the portable device typically will not include means for sufficiently aerating the water, it is even further desirable that the livewell water be used rather than untreated water, as the medicated or otherwise treated water will preserve the fish for a longer period of time.
A tournament fisherman must therefore discharge livewell water through the aperture in the side of the boat and into a bag or equivalent portable device. This presently requires the fisherman to lean over the side of the boat and hold the bag proximate the drainage area, or if the boat is pulled out of the water the fisherman can alternatively catch the livewell water in the bag from outside of the boat. These options are both serviceable but not particularly desirable, as the first option is somewhat awkward and can even be painful, particularly where repeated a sufficient number of times. Further, while the second option is less strenuous where available, it frequently results in the fisherman being soaked with the stream of water that is discharged from the boat.